Welcome to the website of The Albany Academies -- Albany Academy for Girls & The Albany Academy! These two great schools, each very close to 200 years old, merged in 2007 and have created together a most effective educational model: ten grades of single-gender education, followed by two final years of coeducational opportunities.

As you learn about the Academies at this website and through personal visits, you will see that the two schools both practice a distinctive form of education that promotes leadership within the school in preparation for leadership in one's life. Our goal is to achieve self-motivated, self-directed learners, capable of doing their own work to a high academic standard.

I think that is what it means to be truly preparatory. And for two centuries now, leaders of the region, the state, and the nation have emerged from the Academies -- award winners, shakers and movers, strong independent thinkers with a strong commitment to the betterment of their communities, their professions, their world. How does this happen with such regularity?

Some of the essence of the Academies is intangible. For instance, when our graduates speak about what was most important to them, what stands out is that our schools are like a family that appreciates and cultivates each student's uniqueness. Anonymity is impossible. Students, whether new or old at the Academies, are part of a very diverse community of learners. They are always being challenged to go further, but always have the assurance of community.

And then there is the extraordinary faculty. These teachers know every student well. They bring each student forth into the light of his or her own unique gifts. They are passionate about their work of blending challenge and support -- the two basic ingredients of learning. If you are looking for small classes full of smart students, teachers who know and love your children, and the most advanced pedagogical practices, these are points of pride at the Academies.

I know this in part from personal experience. I attended The Albany Academy for 13 years. It was such an important part of my own life -- the foundation stone, really -- that I have always felt gratitude and a deep love for the role the school played in my beginnings. That call to leadership led me to college and university presidencies. Now that I have come full circle and have returned to lead the school, I am experiencing yet another gift from the Academies -- the opportunity to build a model school to prepare students for life in the 21st century.

My door is open, as is my email box. I look forward to hearing from you.

With good wishes,

Dr. Douglas M. North '58
Head of School
The Albany Academies
(518) 429-2429
northd@albanyacademies.org